Over the Hill
by lil smiles
Summary: Jane receives a surprise gift for his birthday... Jello-Jane/Lisbon friendship. In honour of Simon Baker's Thirtyten. Thank you to SpaceAnJL for that word! ONESHOT.


**A/N: Since it's Simon Baker's birthday today, I got inspired to write this little fic. HAPPY B-DAY MR. BAKER! Enjoy!  
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**Disclaimer: Let's see, what do I own... Oh yeah, nothing. Boo.**

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**Over the Hill**

Jane awoke with a start, almost falling face first onto the hard wood floor. He had actually fallen asleep and judging by the fact the office was now bathed in darkness, Jane knew it was rather late. Slowly getting up, he fumbled around until he found the light switch and flicked it on. His eyes took a minute to adjust. The clock on the wall read two minutes past midnight. Scanning his surroundings, he concluded that the janitor must have already finished his rounds. The floor was shiny and the wastepaper baskets had been emptied. The chairs were tucked neatly under their respective desks. Everything was in its place. Jane frowned. Well, not quite everything.

His attention was caught by a small white placard that was taped to his leather couch. Walking back across the room, he carefully freed the envelope. On the front, neat cursive writing spelt out his name. Intrigued, he ripped it open. A cartoon caricature of a blond man stared up at him. He was on the top of a mountain, his fists pumped in the air. Above him were the words, "Y_ou're over the hill!"_ Jane felt a smile tug at his lips. He already had a sneaking suspicion as to who had left this gift for him. To be perfectly honest, he had almost forgotten about this momentous occasion. Forty years old. Where had all the time gone? Shaking his head, he opened up the card. A flying projectile came at him from the crease as he let out an undignified yelp.

Taking a few moments to get his heart rate back to normal, Jane cautiously threw a glance at where the cause of his near cardiac arrest had landed. The object was small and coloured a brilliant shade of blue. As he got closer, Jane realised it was a paper butterfly, attached to a rubber band wind up mechanism. He laughed at himself as he read the words written on the inside of the card.

_ Gotcha!_

_It was hard coming up with a gift that would top a pony, so I hope this isn't too lame. Congratulations, you're now half way to eighty._

_ Lisbon_

_ P.S. Since you're spending the night at the office, head over to the break room._

As he read, he could feel the goofy grin spreading across his face. He blinked before quickly re-reading the note on the bottom. Briskly he strolled through the bullpen and down the hallway. As he rounded the corner, his eyes widened in surprise. Lisbon was sitting alone at the table. Her face lit up by the soft glow of candlelight. Leaning in the doorway, Jane stared at her in mild amusement.

"Well, don't just stand there," she said irritably.

Chuckling, he entered the room and pulled out a seat across from Lisbon.

"So," he paused dramatically. "Are you going to start singing?"

"Hey, I brought you cake, that's as far as I'm willing to go."

"I think you need to work on your surprise party skills."

"Be grateful," she retorted.

Jane grinned as he closed his eyes for just a moment before reopening them to blow out the candles. He held Lisbon's gaze for a lot longer than what was appropriate between two colleagues.

"You know," he said slowly, breaking the silence. "That butterfly almost gave me a heart attack."

A satisfied smirk settled on her lips.

"It's not my fault. You spend too much time on that couch and stuffing your face with pizza and doughnuts. Maybe you should watch your diet and exercise more. "

"At least I don't eat like Rigsby and I so exercise."

"Sure you do," she replied dubiously.

"And you're helping me counteract my unhealthy lifestyle by feeding me cake?"

"That's different, birthday cake has no calories."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really."

Once again, Jane found himself getting lost in her eyes.

"What?" she asked, feeling self conscious under his observation.

"Nothing, just thinking about my wish."

"What did you wish for?"

There was an unmistakable hitch in her voice, which Jane found rather fascinating.

"I can't tell you," he retorted, in a voice mimicking a preschooler, "otherwise it won't come true."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. She was worried that one day, her eyeballs would stay frozen in that position because of this infuriating man. Try as she might, she couldn't even suppress the smile that spilled across her face. She watched as Jane took a forkful of frosting and popped it in his mouth, without even using the plates that she had pulled from the cupboard. He really was just a kid in a man's body. Noticing that Lisbon was just sitting there, he lifted a plastic utensil in her direction.

"I'm not going to eat this entire thing by myself."

Grinning, she took the fork from his outstretched hand and began digging in on the opposite side of the cake.

"Lisbon."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you," he whispered appreciatively.

She smiled, noticing for the first time in a long time, he genuinely looked happy. Reaching out, she gently patted his hand.

"Happy birthday, Jane."

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_**Fin for now, Jello forever**_


End file.
